“It’s important to note, that this work was performed on
intestinal cells and doesn’t mean that peanuts will make your gut leaky. What
it means is we know more about this powerful allergen and how it acts to
trigger allergy”

The discovery provides new opportunities to tackle the condition, which affects 4% of the population. These include finding ways to prevent the allergen attacking the gut lining – and the development of a novel nut that doesn’t trigger an allergic reaction.